Thursday, April 07, 2011
EKB Capsule News...Kentucky...4-8-'11
Teach for America will recruit 30 teachers to eastern Kentucky next school year to try to close the achievement gap between Appalachia and the rest of the state. The organization will hire an additional 30 teachers for each of the following two years and make efforts to expand its presence in the region. Teachers will apply for open positions in Floyd, Knox and Martin counties, organizers announced Thursday at a news conference attended by Education Commissioner Terry Holliday and Lt. Governor Daniel Mongiardo. Executive Director Will Nash said a decision whether to hire Teach for America teachers in Whitley county schools will be determined next week. First lady Jane Beshear, a former teacher, applauded the effort in a video statement.
- Clayton Jackson could face the death penalty after being convicted for the murders of three Leslie County children. Listening to opening and closing statements and witness testimony in the beginning of the penalty phase for Jackson Thursday, a Clay County jury heard pleas from both sides involved. The jury will receive instructions from Judge Oscar Gayle House Friday morning and hear closing statements from the defense and prosecution. They will deliberate until a sentence is passed.
- The Red Cross is stepping in to help Floyd County tornado victims who are cleaning up and looking for new places to live after their homes were damaged or destroyed when an EF-1 tornado touched down on Smokey Branch Road in Teaberry Monday. The Big Sandy Red Cross Chapter is accepting donations to help the storm victims, while other agencies are planning to help them get a new home and belongings.
Twenty-three year old Larry Brewer and 36 year old Sonya Jones, both of Bulan, in Perry County, are facing theft charges after Hazard Police caught the two stealing merchandise from K-Mart at Town and Country Plaza. Brewer and Jones admitted to five other thefts. Police recovered around $450.00 worth of stolen items from the back of their vehicle.
- Wiley M. Smith has filed a lawsuit against several officials alleging he was injured while in custody of Corbin Police and in the Whitley County Detention Center. Corbin Mayor Willard McBurney, Corbin Police Chief David Campbell, Whitley County Judge-Executive Pat White Junior, and Whitley County Jailer Kenneth Mobley are named in the suit along with three police officers and a deputy jailer.
- Kayem Pharmaceutical in India that supplied sodium thiopental, a key lethal injection drug, to at least one U.S. state and reached out to a half dozen others announced Thursday it was no longer selling the drug to American prison officials. Mumbai-based Kayem says it made the decision to refrain in selling the drug where the purpose is purely for lethal injection and its misuse because it cherished the “ethos of Hinduism. Nebraska announced in January it had acquired 500 grams of the drug from Kayem, and a company salesman said he also sold the drug to South Dakota prison officials. A spokeswoman for the South Dakota attorney general said the state bought 500 grams for $5,000 but wouldn’t say what company the state purchased the drug from.
Kentucky has a new license plate, this one celebrating the 75th anniversary of Keeneland. First lady Jane Beshear unveiled the plate Wednesday in Lexington. The track opens its spring meet on Friday. The green-and-white plate is available at local county clerk offices by taking current registration, proof of insurance and the previous license plate. The cost is $39. Beshear said the plate helps promote a "distinct part of Kentucky's identity" and said the track "encompasses all that is Kentucky: horses, beauty and hospitality."
- After being closed for five weeks, a western Kentucky ferry that connects Kentucky and Missouri has reopened. The Dorena-Hickman Ferry had been closed since March when Mississippi River floodwaters covered the Kentucky landing. The ferry connects Kentucky 1354 at Hickman with Missouri Route A and Route 77 near Dorena, Mo. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet says Missouri and Kentucky are the only border states not directly connected by a road, and the ferry is the only direct route between the two states. The ferry resumed normal service on Tuesday
- Kentucky appears to be a moderately peaceful place, according to an index put together by the Institute for Economics and Peace. The group released its 2011 Peace Index on Tuesday. It ranks Kentucky 20th, better than all the states that border it, except West Virginia, which finished 18th. Tennessee was nearly last, finishing 49th with Louisiana 50th. Maine was ranked the most peaceful state. The index is based on five indicators: number of homicides per 100,000 people, number of violent crimes per 100,000 people, number of jailed population per 100,000, number of police officers per 100,000 and availability of small arms. The Institute for Economics and Peace says it is an independent research institute founded in 2007 to improve understanding of what creates peace and its economic effects.
Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway's office says that a public agency responsible for overseeing $13 billion in assets to provide benefits for state and county retirees must publicly disclose employee salaries.Kentucky Retirement Systems refused to honor state retiree Eva Smith-Carroll's request for its "current payroll records" under the Kentucky Open Records Act. Mike Burnside, who is the executive director of KRS, says there was ambiguity in releasing the information because KRS members are protected from public record releases and many employees are KRS members. He said the ruling clarified the question and the board will make a decision about making records publicly available online. KRS reserves the right to appeal the case to Franklin County Circuit Court.
- A Kentucky man has died after being choked in a fight with another man in Oak Grove. First responders found 22-year-old Terry Lee Yocum face-down and unresponsive early Monday. He was taken to Blanchfield Army Community Hospital at nearby Fort Campbell, Ky. and then transferred to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. He died about 4 p.m., according to The Leaf-Chronicle of Clarksville, Tenn. Police say Seneca Demingo Moore told officers he and Yocum were fighting and he put the victim in a sleeper hold until Yocum passed out. Moore was arrested on an assault charge and was held in lieu of $25,000 bond Wednesday morning at the Christian County Jail in Hopkinsville.
- A band with eastern Kentucky ties is getting national attention. Several songs from "Cumberland River" were heard on the hit FX series "Justified" during Wednesday’s show. The band has roots in Harlan County. Many in the community came out to show their support for the group during a community viewing of the show. According to their website, the band's upcoming new project will include songs written by the band and their family members taken from their life experiences and campfire stories from Harlan County.
- A Louisville man is accused of breaking into a home with his 3-year-old son in tow. Shively homeowner April Harris says she spotted an unfamiliar gold Cadillac in her driveway when she got home Tuesday shortly before noon. She then found her flat-screen TV, an Xbox, games and movies on her back porch. Harris said Green walked out of her home with the toddler and told her he was looking for a man who owed him money and had the wrong address. He left and Harris called 911. Green pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to burglary and endangering the welfare of a minor. His next court hearing is on April 18. Police said the 3-year-old is staying with a relative.
# posted by Homer Owens @ 11:20 PM 
